Dental Checkups Are Not Just About Cavities
At Gordon West DDS – Aesthetic & General Dentistry we encourage people to come in twice a year for a dental examination and cleaning. If you abstain from semiannual dental checkups because you don’t believe you have any tooth decay, perhaps getting an oral cancer screening is a more persuasive reason to see your dentist regularly. (While your dentist is checking for oral cancer, we urge you to have a thorough dental evaluation as well!)
In the last few decades, lung and breast cancer have garnered a lot of public attention. There is relatively less awareness of oral cancer even though it claims almost 10,000 lives every year in the United States. If you smoke or have tested positive for HPV, you have a higher risk for developing oral cancer.
At Gordon West DDS – Aesthetic & General Dentistry, we work to raise awareness of oral cancer and the significance of early diagnosis. Courtesy of the CDC, Oral Cancer Foundation, and Johns Hopkins Medicine, here are 5 essential things to know about oral (mouth) and oropharyngeal (back of mouth and throat) cancers.
1. About 80% of individuals with oral cancer use some kind of tobacco (cigarettes, chewing tobacco, pipes).
2. 40% of men and women who receive late-stage diagnosis of oral cancer pass away within five years. The survival rate for early stage diagnosis is 90%.
3. In many cases, it is extremely difficult for the individual to detect oral and oropharyngeal cancers because they can produce inconspicuous symptoms or no symptoms at all. Any abnormality in the mouth or throat, even if small and painless, should be evaluated by a dentist or doctor.
4. HPV (the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease in the US) is the most common cause of oropharyngeal cancer. Of the copious strains of HPV, HPV16 is the one most frequently linked to oropharyngeal cancer.
5. Black males have a higher risk of dying from oral cancer than whites.
Sources:
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary/conditions/oral_health/oral_cancer_and_tobacco_85,P00900/
https://oralcancerfoundation.org/understanding/hpv/hpv-oral-cancer-facts/
https://www.cdc.gov/oralhealth/conditions/index.html
Contact Gordon West DDS – Aesthetic & General Dentistry:
303-665-5335
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
1140 W South Boulder Rd Ste 201
Lafayette, Colorado
80026